


Strawberries and Binders

by tweedle_dumbass



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Acceptance, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Nico is a Dork, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Will Solace, nico is a supportive bf even if he doesn’t quite understand, sweet baby boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 18:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19408588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tweedle_dumbass/pseuds/tweedle_dumbass
Summary: One hot summer day Nico bites the bullet and finally asks Will why he’s always so layered up.





	Strawberries and Binders

**Author's Note:**

> it’s 4:30 in the morning and i couldn’t get this out of my brain, if anyone sees any tense mistakes please let me know! i always struggle with that :/

Every day Will Solace surprised him. Every smile that came seemingly without prompting. Every casual touch that made Nico’s skin tingle that seemed just as natural as breathing to Will. Every snappy remark and exasperated look made Nico spark with a new energy he hadn’t felt in a long time.

On this particular surprising day Nico had been drafted into a canoe ride with Will across the bay. Along with the promise of snacks for the road, Will had guaranteed Nico that he would paddle a total of zero times. 

So as Nico paddled them in disgruntled circles in the hot summer sun, Will lounged back with a hand trailing in the water, every now and again dropping a sliced strawberry onto his tongue. Nico couldn’t help but stare at the curve of his neck as he leaned back worryingly far. He was truly surprised and slightly disappointed that Will’s horrible, lime green sunglasses hadn’t fallen into the water yet. Hair ablaze in the sunlight, Will let out a satisfied groan, stretching his arms high above his head. 

“What are you so please about, Wallace?” Nico said, trying to hide his curiosity behind a dismissive tone. He raised a hand to swipe at his damp forehead. 

Will let out a short laugh, head tilting to gaze at Nico, “You know? I just really love summer.” Will sighed, letting a huge grin take over his face, so bright that Nico almost had to squint at the sight. 

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I would not have guessed Mr The Sun is My Dad.” 

“I know, you wouldn’t peg me as a big summer fan would you?” Will let out another laugh before hauling himself into a sitting position. “I’ll admit though, dad can go a bit overboard sometimes.” Will said, fluttering his shirt to get some air-flow, revealing another layer underneath. 

Nico frowned. Will was always wearing more than one layer and yet somehow he never seemed to overheat. His curiosity took over once again. “How do you do that?” Nico’s cheeks burned. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. 

Will gave him a strange look, “Do what exactly? What’re you accusing me of now, sunshine?”

There was nothing he could do now but get the answers he wanted. “Well...” Nico took a breath, “You’re always wearing more than one later, even today when it’s the hottest day we’ve had all summer. I don’t know how you can stand it.” He looked away and trailed a hand in the water, mimicking Will from just a few minutes ago. He gave his brow another swipe with the collar of his shirt and kept his eyes on the water tracing between his fingers. 

Will huffed a laugh and seemed to dull a little bit. “Well I wouldn’t wear two layers if I could. My binder isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world that’s for sure.”

Nico’s head shot up. “Your what?”

Will looked over at him with a slightly subdued look on his face. “My binder, Nico.”

Nico searched through his ever-growing list of modern vocabulary but came up blank. He blushed, he hated feeling like he didn’t belong. Like an outcast in time. “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Will sat up suddenly. “Huh,” he slid the sunglasses off his face and gave Nico a meaningful look. “Well I guess it makes sense that you wouldn’t really know what a binder is hey?” His lips spread into a smile. 

Then Will pulled his shirt over his head. 

Nico’s eyes couldn’t seem to decide whether he wanted to stare or look away in embarrassment. But either way Nico couldn’t help but notice the peculiar looking undershirt that Will was wearing. It was like a half-singlet, skin tight, and not all that comfortable looking. 

“So this is a binder,” Will said, looking quite sheepish now that he realised what he’d just done. “Don’t worry I don’t mind if you stare, I get it.” 

And so Nico stared. And stared. And stared. Hoping his brain could come up with some sort of explanation as to why Will would want to wear something so tight in the middle of summer. 

“I’m going to need to explain myself aren’t I?” Will said. 

“Uhh... yeah that would be helpful.” Nico locked eyes with him and couldn’t quite hold back the confusion that he was sure was plain as day on his face. 

Will let out a breath and shoved a handful of strawberries in his mouth. “You promise we’ll always be friends, yeah?”

“I don’t know about friends, Solace. I’d describe us more as natural enemies... but yes.” Nico said with a small confused smile. 

“Well the binder compresses my chest. And if I don’t wear it, I feel... well less like a boy really.” 

Nico’s eyebrows drew together, “Why? You’re a boy either way.” 

Will laughed at Nico’s bluntness. “Because I’m transgender, Nico. I was born... well... I was born a girl.” 

Nico froze. “Oh.”

He’d heard things about people like Will, mostly from overheard conversations in disapproving tones from below upturned noses. Cross-dressers, lady boys. He had never really understood what it meant and he had never expected that Will could be one of them, he was just like any other boy he’d met. Right?

“Nico?”

Nico hadn’t realised he’d spaced out for so long and as Will came back into focus he felt his stomach clench at the terrified set of Will’s features and his noticeably more tense posture. “You... you’re a boy though, right?”

Will smiled and let out a breathy laugh “Yeah, Neeks, I’m a boy.” 

“Right. Okay.” Nico scooped the last of the strawberries up into his cupped palm and leaned back against the side of the canoe. “Paddle is back to shore then, captain.” 

Will looked relieved, eyes bright, cheeks full. “Come on now, sunshine, one might think you’re using me for my talents.”

Nico popped a strawberry in his mouth, “Oh, don’t be mistaken, I am.”


End file.
